


Marring His Skin

by lookingfortranquility



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-23
Updated: 2015-07-23
Packaged: 2018-04-10 21:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4408109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookingfortranquility/pseuds/lookingfortranquility
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not as if people don't see the scars, they do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Marring His Skin

**Author's Note:**

> Another short something that wouldn't leave my mind. Not beta-ed. Enjoy! :)

It's not as if people don't see the scars, they do – along with the numerous marks of previous injuries. _Those_ scars are simply indistinguishable from all the other patches of healed skin, impossible to tell apart from the ones obtained in battle.

The first cuts predated even his mother's death. Steve had already been pressuring himself as a teenager, being a perfectionist, wanting to excel at everything and to make especially his father proud.

Ironically enough, his mother had been the only one to know; she'd caught him literally red handed while he'd been punishing himself for an unacceptable performance in a football match. Mere days later she was dead and the number of scars increased.

During his time in the Navy and in particular with the SEALs, nobody questioned the slight discolorations either. Everyone had them, albeit the way they had been acquired differed. No one suspected anything. Newly appeared scars didn't have to be hidden; most missions weren't completed without at least a few scratches so a cut here and there didn't raise any suspicions.

Working with his team at Five-0 was a blessing for Steve. His colleagues became his friends in a matter of days, and soon they were as much his family as Mary was. The need to cut wasn't as prevalent as before, old scars starting to fade before new ones turned up.

After particularly hard cases though, he still relied on the blade hidden in his bathroom. Before long Steve could feel their probing gazes and contemplative looks which Danny, Chin and Kono didn't bother to hide. They were expressing their concern for him through them. It felt strange having people who were concerned and cared about his well-being.

His team found out faster than he'd anticipated but of course they did. They were the best at their job, that's why they were on the team in the first place.

Chin got rid of the blade in Steve's bathroom the same day. Danny offered an open ear and with a gentle, but assertive hand on his back guided him into a psychiatrist's office that all three of his friends had chosen together. Kono kept him busy after cases she knew he would have a hard time dealing with in the aftermath; she accompanied him on hikes, not talking but letting Steve work through his thoughts, and of course she dragged him with her to go surfing.

None of _those_ scars have materialized on his skin since then. Steve knows how lucky he is to be working with people as inherently good, supportive and loyal as his team. He wouldn't replace them for anyone in the world; they're _ohana_ , after all.


End file.
